best wordprocessing / divx playing laptop under $1200?

[SSibalNom]

I' m looking to get a laptop next week that i urgently need for school so I can type in class and keep up quicker, I'm not too quick at writing by hand since I never do it. I just want it to be good @ playing divx movies, wordprocessing, web browsing via bluetooth -> cellphone..maybe some light gaming on older games, be able to go at least 3 hours w/out a charge on one battery, and have it be about 1200 or less after tax... so far in mind I have the lower end iBook @ $1099 w/ the 800mhz G4 & 256mb ram, but can these support bluetooth? also how fast are they under OS X? will i feel crippling effects for getting the lower end model? any other PC-side suggestions that would do the same job? i prefer to buy new and have a nice warranty on it... any help would be appreciated, thanks

 

[preslove]

The 800mhz G4 Ibook that I played around with felt pretty good. Word processing was fine. You should go to applestore.com and look for the education section and enter in your school, you should get at least $100 off that model. Bluetooth is another $100, I think.

 

[mcleo19]

Originally posted by: SSibalNom
I' m looking to get a laptop next week that i urgently need for school so I can type in class and keep up quicker, I'm not too quick at writing by hand since I never do it. I just want it to be good @ playing divx movies, wordprocessing, web browsing via bluetooth -> cellphone..maybe some light gaming on older games, be able to go at least 3 hours w/out a charge on one battery, and have it be about 1200 or less after tax... so far in mind I have the lower end iBook @ $1099 w/ the 800mhz G4 & 256mb ram, but can these support bluetooth? also how fast are they under OS X? will i feel crippling effects for getting the lower end model? any other PC-side suggestions that would do the same job? i prefer to buy new and have a nice warranty on it... any help would be appreciated, thanks

You can get that ibook for $999, or better yet the 14.1 inch with 933Mhz for $1199 at the Apple education store website.

Also, you can get yourself a nice Dell centrino based notebook
600m - $1174 (1 year warranty)

Lattitude D505 - 3 year warranty

 

[preslove]

Before getting the ibook you should look on the web about its logic board problems. Apparently the board with the gpu and external ports has a tendency to fry after the warranty wears off. Getting applecare might be prudent, but that is $300.

google search

black cider.

Any mac owners want to comment?

 

[SSibalNom]

Originally posted by: preslove
Before getting the ibook you should look on the web about its logic board problems. Apparently the board with the gpu and external ports has a tendency to fry after the warranty wears off. Getting applecare might be prudent, but that is $300.

google search

black cider.

Any mac owners want to comment?

any one else have any experience with this? thanks for the replies, I think I want to get one especially because of the 10% education discount, but is this frying out very frequent? as a company shouldnt mac have recalled the board and fixed it for its customers?

 

[acidwizard]

I've had a G3 iBook 800 MHz for over a year now. It has served me very well. I've had no problems with the logic board or anything, it seems to me that the problems are massively exaggerated.
One time the iBook fell out of my backpack, and wouldn't sleep properly. I sent it in for service, and they fixed it, no questions asked. The turnaround was like 2 days. That was my only experience with Apple's service, and I was very satisfied. As for the additional AppleCare, you don't have to decide on it right away, you can wait up to a year.
As for your initial questions, I think the iBook will handle all of the tasks you mentioned. Bluetooth is not built in, however. OS X should run great, as it runs quickly on mine which is over a year old.

 

[SSibalNom]

Originally posted by: acidwizard
I've had a G3 iBook 800 MHz for over a year now. It has served me very well. I've had no problems with the logic board or anything, it seems to me that the problems are massively exaggerated.
One time the iBook fell out of my backpack, and wouldn't sleep properly. I sent it in for service, and they fixed it, no questions asked. The turnaround was like 2 days. That was my only experience with Apple's service, and I was very satisfied. As for the additional AppleCare, you don't have to decide on it right away, you can wait up to a year.
As for your initial questions, I think the iBook will handle all of the tasks you mentioned. Bluetooth is not built in, however. OS X should run great, as it runs quickly on mine which is over a year old.

this sounds good , be able to wait for the warranty to buy it, although bluetooth isnt built in, can a mac support a normal bluetooth USB dongle like a PC ?

 

[acidwizard]

can a mac support a normal bluetooth USB dongle like a PC ?

Yep, iBooks have 2 USB ports.

 

[bjc112]

My P3 600 with 256 does a great job at both of those...

 

[jpeyton]

HP ZT3000 w/ Bluetooth, WSXGA, 54G, etc.

 

[Slappy00]

like jpeyton said but compaq x1000 (now called x1200) both can be found for (after rebate and 10% off (exp end of Jan)) around $1100, pretty well loaded too:

15" WXGA
PM 1.4Ghz
256 (upgrade yourself $50) ram
Intel 802.11b wireless & bluetooth
ATI RAdeon 9200 (32mb ram)
40 gig 4200rpm HDD
3 usb, 1 firewire, 1 SD slot, one paralell, svideo/vga out, some other i/o ports too.

The HP is similarly loaded, other than it supports 802.11g (not via Intel though) and it looks different...

Look there before you commit to an apple